Purgatory
by Stephen M. Collins
Summary: A 50th Anniversary Tribute. A strange TARDIS malfunction sends the Doctor to an impossible place. Once there he meets old friends and foes, but is it for real or is it all an illusion? Someone has all the answers. One thing is for certain; out of all the messes the Doctor had gotten himself into; this one was certainly the trickiest.
1. Part One

"Nothing like a cleanup, eh, old girl?" said the Doctor as he finished polishing the TARDIS console. "Amy, Rory…I've cleaned her up. Time for a trip! Somewhere new, The Twelve Singing Moons of the Casper system, New Earth, Raxacoricofallapatorius, we could finally see the Aplans! Ponds? Can you hear me?" He walked up the stairs a little. "Ponds? Are you having a nap? It's alright if you are I just wanted to know what you wanted to see next." Then he remembered. Amy and Rory, his best friends, were gone. Gone and never able to return.

"Right." He said, that lonely old man in his box. "Ok, time to move on, I suppose." Instantly he had cheered up and ran right back at the console and got the machine running and the TARDIS was off again heading toward a new adventure. But then the Doctor suddenly fell over and began to slide across the floor, "This is new!" he shouted holding onto the railing. The cloister bell began to ring out, that meant danger and at a very critical lever. "No, no, no, no…don't do that! Please don't do that!" The TARDIS straightened out but the cloister bell became louder, it was an unbearable noise. The whole console room shook each time it rang out and the floor vibrated, cracking the glass. The Doctor braced himself on the console, hitting every button, pulling ever lever, checking the monitor for any sort of clue as to the problem. "Come on, old girl. What do you have for me? What's wrong?" The TARDIS was sick, that's the only way the Doctor would describe it to himself. Then it came up on the monitor: coordinates, star charts, universe map: UNKNOWN. The Doctor was shocked by the information, he shrugged out of fear and with a voice embracing that fear he said, "Geronimo." Then it all stopped. The TARDIS was quiet again, just the small hum of the room, the bell was gone, and the engines had stopped. Quiet.

The Doctor was relieved; he went to the monitor again. UNKNOWN. And he couldn't see outside. He gulped, checked his watch, straightened his bowtie, and dusted off the tweed jacket. He was ready. Ready for whatever was out there. Ready for anything. Or was he? He looked around him. Where were his friends? Any of them? His companions, his travelling partners, the ones that defended him, fought for him, died for him and because of him. Not today, today the Doctor was all alone. And this was a feeling he did not enjoy. He walked out of the TARDIS and viewed the world around him, "I went through all that for the Highlands?" he shouted out looking at the green hilly scenery. It had looked like it just rained, the clouds were gray as was the sky, the fog was light but all around, the grass was green and there were many hills and mountains in the distance. He jumped up and down, "Oh, no, no, definitely not Scotland, definitely not Earth." If it wasn't Earth, where was it? The Doctor got down on the ground and sniffed the grass. He laughed, "Oh, of course. I should have known." But then he got serious, he became very aware of where he was. And he was scared. "No, it can't be here. I can't be here. I have to go…" he said this as he turned around to get back in the TARDIS. But the TARDIS was gone. Then he could hear it, it was faint. Laughter, sinister, evil. Laughter.

"It's you isn't it? The Master?" he asked, crouched a little. Observing everything. The laughter picked up, louder but still sinister. "Show yourself!" Then he appeared. It was him. After all this time. But how?

"You." said the Doctor with genuine surprise and anger.

"The Master is intelligent Doctor, but he could never come up with something like this." The man in the brown robes let down his hood. It was the Monk, the Meddling Monk, a renegade Time Lord. The Doctor had encountered him before but knew him for a great number of years. He was just one of those Time Lords that went bad. But he specialized in changing history. One question remained.

"How did you survive the Time War? I know you were there." The Doctor demanded answers; he tried to remain calm and patient in order to get them.

"I survived, that's all that counts." Was his reply. "I know how you survived, Doctor." A big sinister smile.

"How does that sit in your hearts?" Why the taunting? Why was the Monk going through all of this? The Doctor quickly ran up to him and tried to grab his robes. His hands went right through. The Monk was a hologram. The Monk laughed, "By now, Doctor, I believe you've discovered that I'm not real."

The Doctor straightened his bow tie, "Don't play games with me, Monk. Where are you really and why have you brought me here?"

"My dear Doctor. I didn't bring you here, but I am a part of this place. Since you are here now, this means I have been activated. I've been dead for a great number of years. I was killed in the Time War, sometime after you acquired The Moment. You've now been brought here to this place…The Death Zone. You've been here before, yes?"

"Yes, I was. Many times over."

"I will assume you just referred to the last time you were here."

The Doctor groaned, "Holograms. They're so….awkward."

"I can be prompted by questions." the Monk said.

"Why didn't you say so?" The Doctor was clearly annoyed. "Question one, who brought me here?"

"Unknown." Was all the Monk replied.

"Question two." The Doctor walked closer. "Gallifrey is time locked, how can I be here?"

"The time lock has been broken."

"So someone needs my help."

"Unknown. I am limited to three questions before shutting down." The Doctor paced around, he wanted the last question to really count. "Ok, ok. Last question, where is she?"

"She is close." The Monk said. "Good luck, Doctor. I cannot tell you what you are in for. But it will be the hardest fight in your long, long life." The Monk disappeared. When the Monk had gone someone was right there, behind him. That someone was now there staring at the Doctor. He approached her with amazement, like seeing a beautiful sunset. She just stood there, smiling back at him. The Doctor stopped; they both stared at each other for a long time.

"Hello." The Doctor said, as happy as he could be.

"Hello, Doctor." She said back, smiling as big as him. "You've changed your face."

"Yeah." Said The Doctor touching his face. "11. You've stayed the same."

"I've stayed safe. Haven't needed to regenerate. Do you want me to change, I could do it again. On a whim."

"No." the Doctor replied, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I want you to stay the same. Just like you always looked. Same old Romana." The two old friends laughed and embraced. But it wasn't long before the Doctor was back to asking questions.

"Did you bring me here, Romana?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes." She said instantly. "No. Well, sort of. You're just…here."

"But why the Death Zone? Why Gallifrey?"

Romana smirked, "Who wouldn't want to come home?" The Death Zone was no home; it was an ancient battleground for the Time Lords. It was a sick venue of entertainment, a reminder of Gallifrey's dark days, and was once a battleground for the Doctor as well. It led him to the Dark Tower and the Tomb of Rassilon.

"Romana, Gallifrey is time locked. We shouldn't be here. How can we be here?" Deadly serious.

"You've died, Doctor." Romana said with no emotion. "This is like a purgatory. The afterlife of the Time Lords. It takes the dark places from your mind. The Death Zone becomes a purgatory for all Time Lords." So, the rumors were true, the Doctor thought. But how could he be dead?

"I don't remember dying." The Doctor said with sadness.

"You wouldn't. Death is too painful, the stopping of both hearts. The last memories are repressed and soon forgotten. Then you enjoy eternity." Romana smiled at the end of her sentence, eternity, forever.

"So you're dead too. How does it feel?" the Doctor asked, curiously, not yet knowing how to feel himself. Romana smiled her usual smile.

"You get used to it after awhile."

"That's what I thought. But we're Time Lords! 13 lives, longing to live forever. And you were quite cold when I touched you. You are not _my_ Romana." The Doctor sounded insulted. How dare anyone put him up to this. Who was responsible? The Doctor scanned her with his sonic screwdriver. The fake Romana stood there still and then her head went down. She was an android. A false Romana. The Doctor moved on, he found a road and began to walk on it.

"This is what happens when you live 900 years. You make a lot of noise; upset a lot of Daleks and Cybermen and Silurian and Autons and Weeping Angels. I've gotten too big, I know I have. That's why I was put in the Pandorica. Well I'm sorry that there's a gigantic universe dying to be explored!" The Time Lord looked around at the gigantic landscape; no sign of the TARDIS.

This certainly was the Death Zone. But was he really dead? How could he be certain of either being dead or alive? Out of all the messes the Doctor had gotten himself into; this one was certainly the trickiest. More tricky than the parallel universe and crossing paths with his former selves. He decided to press on though; if this place was really the Death Zone then he would make his way to the Tower of Rassilon. The only place in the Death Zone capable of some kind of answer.


	2. Part Two

_"__Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the Fourth Dimension? To be exiles"_ The last word echoed.

"_Goodbye Susan. Goodbye my dear._" The Doctor couldn't get the voices out of his head.

"_Would you like a jelly belly?_"

"_I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow._"

"_The__ Time Lords are an immensely civilized race. We can control our own environment, we can live forever, barring accidents and we have the secret of space/time travel_."

"_Lots of planets have a north."_

"_An__ apple a day keeps the...Ah, never mind._" The Doctor kept running down the road, holding onto his head like he was trying to keep the memories inside.

"_You were expecting someone else?_" The Doctor fell on the ground; he had been travelling for a long while making his way to the Tower. All these memories of his former selves were catching up with him, like someone was using them as a weapon. Or trying to take them away.

"_If we fight like animals, we die like animals!_"

"Make it stop please! Whoever is doing this to me! STOP!" the Doctor was just about in tears but the memories were burning in his head and going away.

"_WHO...AM...I?!_"

The Doctor screamed in agony.

"_A man is the sum of his memories. A Time Lord even more so._"

"_Allons-y!_"

"Please…"the Doctor said trying to breathe, "Whoever is doing this stop. I beg of you. Please stop this." Then he heard it. It was faint. It sent shivers down his spine. That unnatural noise. The Silence. The Doctor then looked at his hands. He had tally marks all over them. And tally marks on his arms as attempted to throw off his tweed jacket and roll up his sleeves; which he hadn't noticed he had already done so. Then he saw them all. A massive army of Silents walking slowly towards him.

"Doctor!" they said in unison. "Doctor!" The Doctor panicked and crawled backwards away from them. They held out their hands trying to grab him or to kill him. The noise was terrifying. The Doctor had never been so scared. But then he felt something. It was wooden. The TARDIS. He was relieved and crawled in. He laid on the floor of the console room. Still terrified, in shock and not knowing why all of this was happening. The doors shut and the Doctor stood up. Then he noticed something odd.

This was the TARDIS and this was the console room but this was not _his _console room. "It's quite possible that the malfunction created a change in the console room. But she's never done that before." The Doctor ran over to the controls and looked at all the readings and started pulling levers and trying to get the TARDIS to go somewhere. She wouldn't budge. The engines wouldn't get going.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?" said the old man.

"Oh yes!" the Doctor said in complete happiness. He ran over and embraced the man.

"Get your hands off me young man! What did you do to my controls?"

"Like it wouldn't be hard to guess." The Doctor held his arms out with a smile.

"I've become a toddler!" The First Doctor said with horror.

"Oi, gramps! This is your own self you're insulting."

"Please refrain from calling me gramps, boy. You're now insulting yourself."

"I'm 910 now. I'm not a boy."

"910, hmm? I've lived that long. My, my, how time flies."

The current Doctor stood in awe at his much younger but older looking self. The first one, the one who went away exploring the universe and fighting enemies and injustice. What a grouch he used to be, the Doctor thought. But also warm and tender hearted and grandfatherly charm. Where was Susan?

"Where are you now, Doctor?" he asked, wondering where Susan, Ian, and Barbara were.

"I've just left Susan on Earth where we had some nasty fighting with the Daleks. Ian and Barbara are in the back sleeping. Now I know you would love to see them again, young man, but I don't want to confuse them with the two of us here."

"I guess I can understand that. Listen, how did you get here?" the Doctor was curious, if his first incarnation was here and he was here then they certainly could not be dead.

"I've been here for awhile. Scotland is a lovely place. I should stop by again later." The current Doctor was concerned that his younger self did not realize that they were on the Death Zone. What kind of trap was he really in? The First Doctor was walking around the console, talking to himself and looking for ways to improve the TARDIS.

"I hope by my time as you, young man, I can actually go where I mean to in the TARDIS." The First Doctor smiled and chuckled at his older self. The current Doctor smiled and nodded his head but was more concerned that the First Doctor didn't know where they actually were.

"Do you mind if I have a look at the controls?" the Doctor asked. The First Doctor motioned for him to do so and the Doctor immediately began looking around. What an old console, early Gallifreyan technology. The type 40s were good TARDISes but unreliable as the Doctor had known for quite some time. The Doctor checked the scanner and all the readings. And sure enough, they were in Scotland. "That's interesting." The Doctor said, putting on Amy's glasses.

"What is it, my boy?"

"It's just that…I was just somewhere. Somewhere different and I ended up here. In the TARDIS. I didn't believe you when you said this was Scotland, but it is."

"Perhaps you weren't really where you thought you were. Perhaps you were here this whole time." The First Doctor reassured the Doctor.

"But, Romana she said…said I was…"

"Romana? Who is she?"

"A Time Lord…Lady? I never figured that out. Anyway, she was here, well a fake and the Monk as well…who was a hologram. Romana told me I was dead and that this place was the afterlife; the afterlife of the Time Lords. And it looks like the Death Zone."

"Mmm, my boy, my boy. What a vivid imagination you have." The First Doctor laughed his familiar laugh and patted the Doctor on the shoulder. "The TARDIS says we are in Scotland, not the Death Zone. And if this Romana was a fake then someone was trying to trick you. And if the Monk was a hologram what could that be but a trick as well?"

"But the Silence…the Silence was chasing me and I found myself in here."

"Silence? Who are they?"

"Creatures, a religious order made to be the end of me. Us. Me? Us? Talking to myself. You see them and the moment you look away you forget what you saw."

The First Doctor was intrigued by all of this. Here he was minding his own business when his future self appears out of nowhere talking about Monks and Silence and death and the afterlife. He was concerned for his future self, he appeared paranoid and afraid. He decided to do the right thing. But, what were all of those tally marks?

"I assume you mark yourself like that to keep track of the Silents you see?" the First Doctor reasoned.

"Yes, yes I do. Please, Doctor, please help me. Us? Whatever. I need to figure this out. If our lives are in danger then it won't only affect you and me but all our other selves." The Doctor was almost in tears begging for help.

"Calm down, my boy. Relax. I will help you. I must. We could be in grave danger. If you're really dead then somewhere in this…purgatory could be all of our other selves. And they could be in danger as well. But if you are alive and I think you very well may be; then something else if afoot. Come, let's go outside and wonder around." Both the Doctor walked out of the TARDIS together.

The scenery was different. Higher mountains of green and less fog. They then started to hear voices.

"Jaime! Victoria! Run!"

"Doctor! Wait for us!" Jaime yelled back.

"Ouch! Help me, Jaime." Victoria had fallen.

"There's the TARDIS! Come on! Keep running!" No doubt about it, it was the Second Doctor.

"Who's that daft old clown?" the First Doctor asked.

"Your immediate successor to be exact." The Doctor said, looking on him with pride.

"I see where you get the bow tie from, young man." The Second Doctor, Jaime, and Victoria arrived at the TARDIS out of breath. The Doctor was wearing his big fur coat and looked very tired and frightened.

"Let me guess the Yeti?" the Doctor asked.

"Who are you?" Jaime asked ready to fight. The Second Doctor calmed the situation.

"Now just relax, Jaime. Let me do the talking. Judging by him being here." He pointed to the First Doctor. "You must be me." The current Doctor smiled and laughed to himself.

"It's a real pleasure to see you again."

"Yes, well I'm sure it is. Now, look, whatever it is you want we mustn't interfere with the laws of time. We being here together now is bad enough. I already had a conference call the other day with the Time Lords. They aren't too proud of what I'm doing."

"And since when did that ever stop you?" the Doctor said with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. The Second Doctor looked at his future self and his older self. The grimace on his face turned into a smile and he laughed. He shook both of their hands and the whole crew went into the TARDIS.

"What are we up against?" the Second Doctor asked.

"Confusing things." The First Doctor said. "Our young man here has been through a great deal. He's been told he's dead and he's on the Death Zone. In the afterlife. A purgatory we're calling it."

"But this isn't the Death Zone." The Second Doctor said most confidently. "We were just dealing with the Yeti. Jaime, Victoria, and I. Who told you this?"

"It was a Time Lady named Romana. I travelled with her for awhile. Got the key of time, E-Space, K-9 and Paris. But she was a fake. And the Monk was there, but he was a hologram. Maybe this is all one big perception filter. Maybe I'm asleep in my TARDIS right now."

"I'm interested in these Silence fellows." The First Doctor said, searching through TARDIS databanks. "I can't find anything."

"Who are these Silence fellows when they're at home?" the Second Doctor asked, getting out his recorder.

"Aliens, designed to kill me. You forget what they are the moment you look away from them."

"Sounds like trouble, Doctor. We best be leaving." Jaime said.

"Nonsense, Jaime. Don't you see? We're all being pulled in here together." The Second Doctor began to provide a rough explanation, "When we landed here the TARDIS landed at this exact spot. You…" he pointed at the First Doctor, "Must have come after we did and your TARDIS merged with mine. Like two trains on the same track." He was on to something.

"Our locations are being shifted. You…" he pointed at the Doctor, "Arrived at the Death Zone while Jaime, Victoria and I arrived here and where did you land?" he asked.

"Scotland." The First Doctor said.

"Oh, aye." Jaime said.

"Very well." The Second Doctor replied, gathering the facts in his mind, "If our locations are shifting then someone is manipulating our time stream. Our life. Constructing a world around us and plotting our doom. You could very well be dead and if we're not careful…we'll all be dead."

"How many of us are there now?" the First Doctor asked.

"I'm the 11th." The Doctor said, knowing that all of his incarnations could be around here in this place. It made him feel vulnerable, not really being in control or knowing what was happening or what was going on. The Second Doctor was making a lot of sense, but how could they reach the other incarnations and join together to stop whoever or whatever was doing this?

"We have work to do." The First Doctor said.

"Eleven heads are better than one." The Second Doctor joked.

"I love me." Remarked the Doctor with a grin.


	3. Part Three

_"When I was a little boy, we used to live in a house that was perched halfway up the top of a mountain. Behind our house, there sat under a tree an old man. A__hermit__, a monk. He'd lived under this tree for half his lifetime, so they said, and had learned the secret of life. So, when my black day came, I went and asked him to help me."_

Bessie was in rare form today. It was a pleasant day for a drive in the countryside and the Third Doctor was going faster than normal. The frills on his shirt were flapping in the breeze of the spring air as was his hair. He needed some time out on the road to clear his head after his assistant, Jo, decided to stop travelling with him. He would miss Jo but was proud of her and happy for her and for her husband to be. He also felt another stranger sense of emptiness something he just couldn't quite put his finger on. It was then that he saw a dark figure in the road; out of nowhere it just seemed to appear. He couldn't stop; he was going to hit this person. But then he just drove straight through him. The Third Doctor slammed on the brake and got out of his car.

"What the devil was that?" he exclaimed out loud. He made his way over to the spot but the person was nowhere to be found. The Third Doctor shrugged and made his way back to Bessie. But he stopped and saw the person who he drove through. The Master, his arch nemesis.

"Yes, I thought it might be you." The Third Doctor remarked with no surprise.

"It's nice to see you too, Doctor." The Master said, in his usually nice, expensive looking dress suit.

"I'm rather busy at the moment if you don't mind." The Third Doctor replied, trying to get by. But the Master wasn't letting him through.

"I must insist you stay Doctor." He said. "For a moment."

"This better be good." The Third Doctor stood by and waited to hear what the Master had to say.

"There is a point in time strongly converging around you, Doctor. You're past two lives are there as well as a future incarnation. If you come with me, you can save them." No sinister grin, no catch, why though?

"_Me _come with _you_? I've never heard such nonsense. Out of my way please…"

It was then that the whole landscape changed around him. It looked like a battlefield. World War I to be precise. Tarnished fields and trenches for miles. It looked familiar to the Third Doctor. He began to run out of harm's way because of the bullets firing about. He looked around to try to see if the Master was around but he wasn't. Projection maybe? A fantasy. Can't think about that now, just run, the Third Doctor told himself. All of the sudden, he could see a forest, trees at the horizon. He ran and ran and ran. But then he collapsed into a trench. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Perhaps the Master was right. A point in time converging around him and his other selves. A point in time but also a place in time? He got up slowly and looked at the mud on him.

"Good grief." He exclaimed. Then he saw them. Those terrible creatures. Sea Devils. But why and how could they be here? The Third ran towards them and knocked three down and continued to run down the small and muddy corridor of the trench. He could hear the explosions going off on the battleground above. They were coming from all angles; but no gunfire, no shouts of soldiers, just explosions. What could this be?

"Would you stop playing that ridiculous thing? I'm trying to concentrate!" the First Doctor exclaimed at his successor.

"Grump!" the Second Doctor said in protest and went back over to Jaime and Victoria and talked quietly with them. The current Doctor watched his much younger self with great worry. He looked troubled and confused and in very serious thought.

"Hello." He walked over to himself; he smiled when he thought about that.

"What is it young man?" the First Doctor was annoyed.

"Shouldn't have Ian and Barbara come out by now?"

"No, no, I said they were resting."

"And you're sure about that?"

"What are you driving at? It's nonsense. Of course I am!"

"Then why haven't they come out? It's been a bit noisy in here."

"Heavy sleepers." the Second Doctor quipped.

"It's just," the Doctor was talking to everyone now, "You'd think they would hear all of us gabbing about and come out and have a look see."

"The TARDIS is a big ship, Doctor." said Jaime, not used to calling anyone else Doctor but his Doctor.

"Yes I know, Jaime…" the Doctor stopped. He loved to be talking to his old companion again. Especially Jaime, what kinds of time laws were they breaking? The Time Lords erased Jaime's memory, Zoe's as well. But Victoria was here, so they were plucked out of time? It was all very timey wimey. The Doctor headed out of the console room and down the corridor.

"Come along, everyone!" he said like a school teacher. They followed him; the Doctor knew where he was going. Even though it looked different, it was the same old TARDIS.

"What are you looking for, Doctor?" asked Victoria, who also felt weird calling this young man Doctor.

"I'm looking for Ian and Barbara of course." The Doctor replied, slowly and quietly.

"Their bedroom is…" the First Doctor began.

"Down the hall and to the left. Then down some stairs and to the right."

"Left." The Second Doctor corrected him.

"No, right you clown." The First Doctor said.

"Whose Ian and Barbara?" Victoria asked her Doctor.

"They were the first of your kind to travel with me and Susan. Yes, we had some times. They travelled with this old geezer over here." He pointed to his predecessor and smiled. The First Doctor ignored him and continued walking. They had arrived to the room, white door with the circular panels as usual and everything in the area looked the same. The Doctor knocked on the door.

"Ian? Barbara? It's me, the Doctor. Well, it isn't but it still is. Regeneration. Oh, you don't know about that. Well, it's quite fascinating really. You see…"

"Oh, just open the door!" the Second Doctor said. And there they were. Weeping Angels. Two of them. Mouths open, teeth exposed. Hands reaching out to touch them all.

"DO. NOT. BLINK." The Doctor ordered them.

The Third Doctor had travelled a long distance on foot and was exhausted. He couldn't figure out where he was or how he had gotten there. Whatever the Master had said to him was starting to make sense. An area being created that centered around the Doctor. He could just sense that this place was wrong. And he could feel a strange presence there were Time Lords about. Multiple Time Lords, but they were a far way off. A strong wind came howling through and the Third Doctor lost his train of thought.

"Strange place." A voice said behind him. A deep voice.

"Yes indeed." The Third Doctor replied, he felt calm about the voice behind him, then a look around. The man was decked out in a costume that consisted of a large scarf and a velvet looking hat. The coat was grayish. He smiled a big grin and tipped his hat. Then he pulled out something from his pocket. A bag, a bag of candy. A woman stood beside him, blonde hair and she wore a similar outfit to him.

"I'm the Doctor, this is Romana. Would you like a jelly baby?"


	4. Part Four

_**The Doctor**__: I'm a Time Lord._

_**Sarah Jane**__: Oh, I __know__ you're a __Time Lord._

_**The Doctor**__: You don't understand the implications... I'm not a human being; I walk in eternity..._

"So, you're the newest model?" the Third Doctor asked as he turned around.

"I am. Quite a step up don't you think?" the Fourth Doctor grinned while working on a jelly baby stuck in this tooth.

"Rubbish. That scarf is ridiculous!" The Third Doctor eyed his successor and turned to look at Romana. She too was wearing a ridiculous scarf and similar outfit to the Doctor. He stood up and shook his hand and hers as well. "Well, there's no use in arguing is there? We better get down to it. The Master brought me here."

"The Master?" the Fourth Doctor asked, holding something back. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am!" the Third Doctor replied, offended. "He told me that there is a point, a whole world being formed around all of our selves." The Fourth Doctor turned to his companion.

"What do you think, Romana?" She looked around at the area, sniffing the air. It seemed a little too familiar. The environment seemed like a distant memory, like a dream you tried so hard to remember after you wake up. Had she been here before?

"This place does seem familiar, Doctor. Doctors." She corrected herself. "But I can't seem to place my finger on it."

"That's quite all right, young lady." The Third Doctor assured her. "But let's get going, it seems to be getting dark."

"Aren't you going to ask us how we got here?" the Fourth Doctor asked as they started to head down a hill.

"I would but I don't see the point. You arrived here just as I did. A random occurrence, a plucking out of time. I think that's what I'll start calling it."

"That was always the problem with him, Romana. Always straightforward and…"

"Cantankerous?" Romana guessed.

The Fourth Doctor smiled, "No, a scrapper. But good guess. We could reserve that word for a former incarnation couldn't we, Doctor?"

"Yes, I suppose we could. Now, come along old chap. We need to get some bearings."

_The TARDIS_

" .BLINK." It was all the Doctor knew what to say. Being in this situation with people who had never seen Weeping Angels before.

"Oh my word!" the Second Doctor shouted. He had never seen anything like it before, two ghastly looking statues. Those stone eyes and horrible, evil teeth.

"What is it, Doctors?" Jaime asked.

"It's just a statute, dear boy. It won't harm you." The First Doctor tried to assure him, but then the Doctor gave him a disappointing look without actually looking at him.

"This is no ordinary statue. These are Weeping Angels. Do not look away from them and whatever you do, do not blink. The moment you do, you'll be taken from here or worst."

"Can they speak?" the Second Doctor asked.

"Depends." the Doctor replied.

"On what?" Victoria asked, frightened.

"On whom they killed. Alright, angels, it's me again your old friend, the Doctor." The Doctor walked closer to the Angels. "Where are my friends?"

The light went out, and then came back on and everyone shouted in fear. Both angels had an arm around the Doctor holding him tightly. The Doctor tried to free himself even though he knew he couldn't. The First Doctor approached the angels.

"I am the Doctor as well and this is my ship! Unhand the young man and give me back my companions this insistence."

"Doctor?" one angel asked.

"Doctor?" the other said, this voice was feminine. Utter terror fell on the face of the First Doctor. How could this be?

"No, no it can't be. Ian? Barbara? Is it you?" The light went out again and flickered rapidly. When they came back on both angels had a hand on the Doctor's neck and their other arms held tightly around his arms.

"Doctor? Our Doctor, it's so dark. What happened, Doctor? Where are we?" It was Ian, he sounded so lost and confused. The Doctor hadn't the heart to tell them.

"Everything will be alright, young man. Be brave and show courage!" The First Doctor lied, he knew it was hopeless.

"I'm so afraid, Doctor." Barbara said, voice trembling.

"Barbara, it's me. Another Doctor." Said the Second Doctor in a strange somber tone. "Keep strong, we're coming for you. Everything will be fine. Trust us."

"It's me, Ian, Barbara." The Doctor said, trying to calm them. "We are all the Doctors and we will save you. Let me go, please. You must fight off the angels. Trust me." The lights went off and on again in a flash and the Doctor was released and fell to the floor. The angels were gone.

_Location: Unknown_

Far away from everything, the man sat in his chair overlooking a monitor, concentrating with his entire mind on the events unfolding. He was quite pleased with his progress but there was much more to be done, more areas to create and more Doctors to snatch out of time. It was his best scheme yet and one that would really get back at the Doctor since their last encounter. But now only the Doctor he faced but all the other Doctors.

"Excellent." He said to himself. "Quite an excellent little game we're playing. And we're only half way there."

_The TARDIS_

"Ah, yes the Eye of Orion." Smiled, the Fifth Doctor as he set the coordinates, "With all the stress we've been through; regeneration, the Master, a nice tranquil holiday would be just what the-"

"Please, don't finish that sentence." Tegan protested.

"Why not?" asked the Fifth Doctor.

"It's a bit tacky, throwing your name around like that."

"You're just thrilled to be here aren't you, Tegan?" the Fifth Doctor said with sarcasm as he tried to get his mind back on the TARDIS controls. Tegan sighed and crossed her arms and walked out of the control room. Nyssa and Adric came in soon after.

"Tegan grumbled something about a holiday?" Nyssa asked.

"Yes, the Eye of Orion. The most tranquil place in the universe. I've tried a few times to get there but something always seems to go wrong. This time I plan to get it right."

Through the vortex the police box went and soon landed. The Fifth Doctor was pleased with himself as he walked out of the TARDIS accompanied by his three companions.

"Welcome to, the Eye of Orion."

"You call this tranquil?" Tegan asked, stunned by what she saw.

"I think you get it wrong, Doctor." Nyssa said.

"Again." Adric added.

What they saw was a barren wasteland, a place torn up by war and death. This was far from the Eye of Orion.

"Well…" the Fifth Doctor stumbled for words, "One day I'll get it right."

"Look, over there!" Adric shouted, pointing at three figures. "People."

"So you're right." The Fifth Doctor said, squinting to see them. "Hello!"

The three figures turned and so three others waving at them, then they saw the blue box behind them.

"Well, he's not from out past." The Fourth Doctor said.

"So he's…" Romana started.

"Our future." The Third Doctor said looking at his successor.

"This is dangerous territory we're walking on. Let's run into it shall we?" he looked at both Romana and the Third Doctor with a smile. They all waved back and began running toward the Fifth Doctor and his companions.

"Oh, dear." The Fifth Doctor exclaimed. "It's them."

"Them who?" his companions asked.

"Me." He replied. "My other selves."

The Fourth and Fifth Doctors eyed each other while the Third Doctor looked over the Fifth Doctor's youthful appearance and cricket outfit.

"Are you the immediate me?" the Fourth Doctor asked him.

"Yes, I am. Very immediate if I might…"

"Don't!" shouted the Fourth Doctor, "Not a word." He whispered. "Well, I hope I don't become you for quite some time. It's bad enough being with him." He pointed to the Third Doctor.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." The Third Doctor said. "Not everyone pay attention. None of this should be happening but it is. The Master is at work in this. Bringing us all here together to trap us. To kill us."

"Enough with the melodrama." The Fourth Doctor interrupted. "Let's get on with it, let's find the source to all this nonsense." He then realized Nyssa, Adric, and Tegan were all there staring at him in disbelief. From there point of view, this was their Doctor. The very first once they met. Now he was here again with their new Doctor and an older Doctor who seemed a bit rude. They had already realized it before, but this moment confirmed it for them that time travel was very complicated.

"We need a plan, Doctors." Romana stated.

"Right." The Third Doctor agreed, getting down to business. "Everyone follow me."

"Wait a minute. Everyone should follow me." The Fourth Doctor said trying to lead the way.

"If you both would shut up!" the Fifth Doctor shouted, getting impatient with his former selves. "Where are we? Why are we here? Who is behind this? And how do we stop it? These are the questions we need to ask. And while we ask these questions there's no better option but to get back in the TARDIS and fly around to scan the area."

"Good plan." The Third Doctor smiled patting his future self on the shoulder. "Everyone on board."

"Not bad." The Fourth Doctor said with his signature smile. "I may look forward to you yet." Romana followed as did Nyssa, Adric, and Tegan. The Fifth Doctor looked around the area one more time. Nothing in sight, just wasteland. As he turned to go back in the TARDIS the wind began to howl. He turned and up on a hill of burnt grass stood a figure. Tall and dark, too far away to see a complete form. The figure was wearing a long cloak, some of it dazzled in the pale sunlight. The Doctor put on his glasses to try to get a better look but when he did the figure was gone.

"Come on, Doctor. We need to get busy." Adric shouted from inside the TARDIS.

"Coming, coming." The Fifth Doctor called back. "I just thought I saw something…" he said more to himself. "Or someone."


End file.
